Do Trade Shows Really Make Nearby Hotels More Expensive to Book?

The premium is concentrated
No higher than control: 12; Higher, but below 50%: 17; At least 50% higher: 6
Counts of date-group medians, not individual hotels. Repeat capture gave the same counts. Each hotel compared with its own control quotes. Source: Google Hotels, google.com/travel/hotels; Stand Central analysis. Captured 29 September 2026.

The largest show-night premiums
LAMMA 2027: 2.10x / 1.89x; Occupational Therapy Show 2026: 1.86x / 1.79x; Brand Licensing Europe 2026: 1.80x / 1.79x; Advanced Engineering / Euro Bus Expo: 1.63x / 1.81x; The Schools & Academies Show: 1.54x / 1.54x; DTX / Employee Benefits Live: 1.54x / 1.54x
The 6 date groups with initial median premiums of at least 50%, ranked by initial ratio. Bar lengths show initial ratios; labels show initial / repeat. Source: Google Hotels, google.com/travel/hotels; Stand Central analysis. Captured 29 September 2026.

Further out, a smaller premium
0-1 miles: 2.25x / 2.24x; 1-2 miles: 1.72x / 1.72x; 2-3 miles: 1.37x / 1.25x; 3-5 miles: 1.13x / 1.21x
Pooled hotel comparisons at the 6 high-premium groups. Bar lengths are initial ratios; adjacent values show initial / repeat. Initial/repeat n by band: 0-1: 40/39; 1-2: 16/18; 2-3: 20/19; 3-5: 25/26. Source: Google Hotels, google.com/travel/hotels; Stand Central analysis. Captured 29 September 2026.

Hotel stock did not settle it
NEC Birmingham: 22 / 4 of 9; Harrogate: 18 / 0 of 3; Farnborough: 16 / 0 of 5
Illustrations from the 9-venue analysis. Bars count mapped hotel features within three straight-line miles; values also show date groups with premiums of at least 50%.  Source: Google Hotels, google.com/travel/hotels; Stand Central analysis. Mapped hotel counts: OpenStreetMap, openstreetmap.org. Captured 29 September 2026.

Quotes, not payments. Same-day repeat, not a booking-time study. No causal or event-size inference.
